S Korea beat Taiwan to title

By Paul Huang / Contributing reporter

Mon, Nov 05, 2012 - Page 20

Scoring early and often, South Korea humbled the hosts by humiliating Taiwan in a 100-65 victory in the title game of this year’s Asia University Men’s Basketball Championship at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City last night to take home the coveted winners’ trophy.

An 11-0 run by the South Koreans at the start of the game helped set the tone early for the undefeated squad from Kyunghee University, as they rattled the hosts with uncanny speed and deadly accuracy from the perimeters to claim a 47-26 lead at the half.

That was as close as Taiwan got, as the visitors continued to pound away with a potent attack that scored with ease en route to one of the widest margins of victory in the tournament’s history.

MONGOLIA 86, PHILIPPINES 78

Mongolia overcame back-to-back losses on the two previous days with an 86-78 triumph over the Philippines in the battle for the bronze in Sinjhuang yesterday afternoon to notch up one of their best finishes in recent years.

Battuvshin Bilguun led all scorers with 31 points to account for nearly 40 percent of his team’s total offense. However, with the game tied in the closing minutes, it was Tserendagva Azbayar who drained a clutch three-pointer to put his team ahead for good.

The more agile Philippine squad that was led by Shej Sumang and Chris Javier would keep pace with the Mongolians for more than three quarters, before faltering late in the fourth.

HONG KONG 62, CHINA 40

Previously winless Hong Kong saved its only victory of the tournament for the final game by downing China 62-40 in the battle for the fifth-place finish to close out this year’s campaign on a high note.